bob orr followed the hearing today. >> reporter: as president obama's top counter-terrorism adviser, john brennan has overseen a five-fold increase in drone strikes against suspected terrorists. brennan today told the senate intelligence committee those strikes are critical for national security, but brennan said he'd rather capture terrorists than kill them. >> we only take such actions as a last resort to save lives when there's no other alternative to taking an action that's going to mitigate that threat. >> reporter: brennan defended a policy permitting americans to be targeted if they're actively plotting with al qaeda. orgong senator ron wyden objected. >> it's the idea of giving any president unfettered power to kill an american without checks and balances that is so troubling. every american has the right ton when their government believes it's allowed to kill them. >> reporter: the committee also questioned brennan about the enhanced interrogation techniques or eits, used to question al qaeda terrorists. brer an was a high-ranking cia officer when the bush administration emp